I honestly can’t believe that April is already here. Where did the time even go? It’s incredible how quickly time seems to pass when life gets super busy.
If you’re new to my income reports, let’s start with a quick rundown!
I started blogging in 2009 (in college, FOR A CLASS). In 2016, I started Hangry Woman after my type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
Since then, the blog and Instagram communities you all share with me have been a major part of my life.
I started these income reports to keep track of the income I make from blogging and share whether a regular person can make a full-time income from something as mundane as a food/diabetes blog.
The twist to this is that I also had (I’ll explain the past tense) a full-time job, I consult, and I take care of a chronic illness. I’m SUPERFREAKING BUSY.
Here’s a rundown of what happened in these past two months. I’ll talk more about these below:
- I joined TikTok
- I Joined the Healthline team as a community guide for their T2D App
- I got a manager
- I’m not doing work for free in 2020 anymore
- Balance has been the most difficult thing this month
- Mediavine featured my blog!
- I have a lot of background work to do on the blog
- I quit my job right before coronavirus
- I wrote a book!
- My traffic reports
- My income and expenditures
If you want to get more information on my income and traffic. Head to the bottom of my post for now. If you’re willing to stick around for what has been a rollercoaster the last few months, buckle in. Here’s a rundown of what happened.
February AND March on Hangrywoman.com
Someone please tell me why I’m addicted to TikTok?
What a month! I did something I never thought I’d do — I joined TikTok.
If you’re not aware, Tiktok is the newest rising social media platform with over 1 BILLION people using it, in more than 150 countries.
I’m 30, but I assumed I’d never fit in on TikTok and there wouldn’t be anything there for me.
I was so wrong.
I love the short, snappy videos offered on the platform. I’ve also started to make my own, so you can find me they’re learning how to “woah” or sharing a quick kitchen hack with you.
I’ve also got some dancing videos which is highly embarrassing.
Healthline’s T2D App
If I haven’t already told you, I’m the community guide for Healthline’s new type 2 diabetes app! It’s a joy for me to be doing something I love so much.
If you told me I’d be working with people with type 2 diabetes as my job, I would have said you were crazy. Click here if you have type 2, and you’re looking for some community.
I got a manager
For the last six months, I struggled with balancing my full-time job, working EVERY SINGLE DAY, on Hangry Woman, balancing my family and basically doing way too much. I got burned out, which also led to some very heavy feelings about life.
There’s been more demand from the blog than ever, and I’d been constantly working on it by myself. I honestly needed someone to help me with the business side of things. So, I brought on a manager.
If you’re paying attention, you most definitely know her. She is my business angel, and helps me keep my head on straight so I can do what I do best — create. If we hadn’t started working together when we did this would have all fallen apart.
It’s also been helpful in my goals to become a full-time blogger. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have a small team help me manage all of this. I thought I was going to implode.
My new mantra: no free (or cheap) work in 2020
Along the lines of getting a new manager, I decided as a part of my strategy that I can’t devote time to brands who don’t invest in my time, and skill.
Brands are spending billions of dollars on influencer marketing. It’s because it works. Influencers have devoted, niche communities who trust us.
We don’t betray our communities for a dollar, and we carefully choose who we work with.
But, as bloggers, we can sometimes sell ourselves short. We’ll lower our rates because we REALLY want a brand in our portfolio.
We might even take a total pay cut because we want to build a relationship.
Sometimes, it pays off. Most times, it just builds some resentment. The brands that I work with now value my finite amount of time, my talents and the audiences I share with.
Something has to give, and it’s free work. I will work so hard for a brand that values me. But it’s becoming harder for me to say yes to free work – especially given my lack of time.
So, that’s my motto: #nofreeworkin2020. It doesn’t mean that you can’t take free work, but thinking about what you’re giving up in exchange. Just always ask yourself if it’s worth it.
Mediavine featured my last income report!
I’m writing these for myself, but whoever comes along for the ride is welcome.
It was awesome to see my blog featured on Mediavine’s Facebook Page – especially since I worked so hard to join Mediavine in the first place.
Mediavine has allowed me to monetize my blog to the point where I earn a significant amount of extra income every month (enough to have quit my full-time job this year). Mediavine has helped me reach some of my biggest goals much sooner than I imagined.
There’s some background clean-up that needs to happen ASAP
With it being March, I’m reminded that spring cleaning is of the most importance. I’m cleaning up some blogs, so you might notice some old favorites getting new life!
I quit my job…and am blogging full-time!
While this income report is already lengthy, I want to tell you about how this happened! But, Hangry Woman is my full-time job. I never thought I’d be able to take the leap!
I want to thank you guys for all the support you’ve shown me over the years. This is possible because of you, and I can’t thank you enough.
My book comes out on 5/5
Behind the scenes, I’ve. been working on a book. There’s a long story about that, too!
It comes out on May 5th, and I’m so thrilled that I got to be a part of a process like this. It’s been a true joy.
My income and expenditures
Well, drumroll please my income for February and March: $15,260
Expenditures: $4,343 (taxes and site costs. Mostly taxes lol).
- I purchased hosting for Hangry Woman from BigScoots
- My G-suite (Google Drive, Gmail)
- Mailchimp to maintain my mailing list
- Subscribers for website push notifications
- Slickstream as the search engine behind my website
- Adobe Lightroom CC for photo editing
- Tailwind for Pinterest
- Business insurance
Traffic
As COVID-19 spread, I experienced lower site traffic. I’m actually a bit afraid of what that means for my summer earnings, as I saw a dip by nearly 50%.
That’s actually a little insane considering the food niche is generally up by 40%. I hope to recover, but until then I’m focusing on my partnerships, and just creating quality content that brings you all back!
Overall, I’m so happy with my progress, but also excited about what’s to come for me. What a year this has already been, and we’re only four months in.
